Thursday, July 4, 2013

Find the Right Masking Tape for a Cost-Effective, Successful Auto Painting Job

If you want to enhance the resale value of your car in a simple, cost-effective manner, repainting it would be a great option. While professional services completed by an auto repair shop in your area could end up costing you thousands of dollars, a DIY approach could favor similar results and still trigger important financial savings. The key is to count on first-rate elements, including premium masking products. Once you decide to start working on this project, make sure that you have enough masking tape to get the job done.

What is masking tape and why is this product so important?

Believe it or not, masking tape can and will influence the end result of your paint job. This essential pressure-sensitive tape, also known as “painters tape” or sticky tape, is widely used by auto painters to wrap and protect areas that should not be covered in paint. This particular type of tape has a special adhesive, allowing users to apply it easily, without impacting the recently painted surface in any way. Masking tape was introduced in 1925 in an attempt to simplify the work and eliminate the frustration of auto painters who were forced to apply tape with extremely strong adhesive that always ended up peeling off the coat of paint, compromising their efforts, or not being able to easily re-position the tape.

How is masking tape used by auto painters?

These days, special masking tape is applied by auto painters who want to elimitate a fine line, marking the borders of an area where the body paint should not reach. In this context, it goes without saying that both professionals and amateurs could profit from flexible masking products, like for instance Orange Mask tape launched by Intertape, tailored to the particularities of any surface. This 5-star American tape can be used on a wide range of materials (including rubber and plastic), can be easily applied in layers and cut by anyone, and ensures a superior adhesion in both cold and hot environments. Last but not least, plastic tape with special adhesive demarcating precise areas that should not be painted should leave zero or a very minimum amount of adhesive residue, and should never lower the quality of the auto painting job. This is the case of AM (AquaMask) tape, widely known for its superior bleed-through protection, UV resistance, lack of residues, and innovative adhesive based on rubber, which provides excellent results without impacting the surface in any way.